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| | BITNET Fantasy-Science Fiction Fanzine
___|___________|___ X-Edited by 'Orny' Liscomb
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CONTENTS
X-Editorial 'Orny' Liscomb
*Cydric and the Sage Carlo Samson
Ceda the Executioner: 3 Joel Slatis
*Spirit of the Wood: 4 Rich Jervis
*The Dream: Part 2 of 2 John White
Date: 120686 Dist: 214
An "*" indicates story is part of the Dargon Project
All original materials copyrighted by the author(s)
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X-Editorial
Well, things have been mighty hectic. I have just returned from
a visit to New York City over the Thanksgiving holiday, which was
very entertaining. However, the big news is that FSFnet is no longer
being sent directly to you, but is being distributed by the LISTSERV
distributed server network. It certainly makes my job considerably
easier, and hopefully no one will wind up with format problems. But
that's all icing on the cake.
We've got several interesting tidbits in this issue, including
the conclusion of John White's excellent story, The Dream. Also you
will find installments of Joel Slatis' Ceda tale and Rich Jervis'
Spirit of the Wood stories, as well as an interesting story from
Carlo Samson. I am quite impressed with this issue, and There will
be at least one more issue out before Christmas, and possibly two
before the new year. Looking forward, we have another excellent
story from John White, which I am sure you will enjoy, and the
continuation of Merlin's Atros epic. Enjoy, and best wishes!
-'Orny' Liscomb
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Cydric and the Sage
I. Arrival: The Tavern
It was late afternoon when Cydric Araesto arrived in the coastal
town of Dargon. Hot and tired from his journey up from the capital
of Baranur, he rode through the main street of the town, seeking a
place to rest. His eyes fixed on a large building near the middle of
the street; a sign above the door proclaimed:
BELISANDRA'S
in bold red letters. Below the name was a painting of a young buxom
wench raising a large tankard of brew. Cydric dismounted in front of
the building, put his horse in the adjacent stables, and went inside.
The common room of the tavern was large and brightly lit by
lanterns that hung from the rafters. The smells of fresh-brewed ale,
Comarian tobacco, and wood smoke reached Cydric as he sat down in a
corner table and mopped his brow with the edge of his cloak. He
called out to a passing serving girl and ordered a cold pint of
Lederian Special Brew.
As the girl left to fill his order, he leaned back against the
wall and sighed wearily. "I am finally here," he thought. "But
should I even *be* here? Does my future lie in Dargon, or was it all
a fever dream?" He shook his head ruefully. "It is too late for
regrets. I made my choice, and I can never go back."
He turned his attention outward to the tavern. The place was
nowhere near capacity, he noted. To his right he saw a young couple
holding hands and conversing quietly. At a table in front of the bar
a group of richly dressed middle-aged men talked and drank. Near the
entrance, a hooded figure in blue robes sat hunched over a mug of
brew. A thin, bearded man smoked a small pipe in the glow of the
fireplace. And at a table in the center of the room, a pair of
leather-clad women arm-wrestled.
The serving-girl returned and placed a large tankard on the
table in front of him. She smiled at him as she turned and made her
way back to the bar, where a stout woman of about forty summers
watched the arm-wrestling women with a look of mild interest. Cydric
took a long pull of the cold brew and made a sound of approval. He
settled back, letting the tiredness bleed from his bones.
Then, without warning, the strange vision that had been
recurring in his mind for months once again intruded upon his
thoughts. He tried to purge it from his mind, but the vision
persisted. He gave up the effort, having learned early on that the
only thing he could do was to let it run its course.
II. Reverie: The Vision
He was sitting on a large boulder that lay half-buried on the
shore of a vast golden sea. The sky above him was a deep cobalt
blue. Far in the distance, on the horizon, an object sparkled and
glittered. He hopped off the boulder and walked to the edge of the
sea, straining to see what it was. Then he knelt down and scooped up
a handful of the golden water. He raised it to his mouth, but before
he drank it he cast his eyes toward the object on the horizon again.
He sighed, and his breath turned the golden liquid in his hand to
plain colorless water.
The water slipped through his fingers, and where it wetted the
sand a small lump of a transparent substance appeared. He picked it
up, and the lump grew into the shape of a life-sized human skull.
The skull floated out of his palm and came to hover in front of the
boulder. Beams of white light lanced out of the skull's eye sockets
and struck the smooth stone, sending up a cloud of dust. After
several moments, the skull ceased its activity and set down atop the
boulder. Cydric brushed away the rock dust and saw that the skull's
eye-beams had carved into the stone an outline of the continent that
contained the Kingdom of Baranur. A small "x" marked a spot on the
western coast of the continent. Below the outline were the words
"Corambis the Sage".
As soon as Cydric read the words, the transparent skull rose
into the air and, with a clack of its jaws, sped away over the
golden sea toward the glittering object on the horizon.
III. The Tavern: Company
The vision faded. Cydric looked up as the serving girl returned
and asked him if he wanted another drink. "No, that will be all, for
the moment." The girl turned to leave. "Wait a moment," he called.
"Yes, milord?"
"Do you know of a person called 'Corambis the Sage' ?"
The girl looked at him oddly. "Yes, everyone knows of him. Are
you just arrived?"
"Yes, I am. Do you know where he lives?"
The girl cast a glance over her shoulder. "A moment, milord."
Cydric watched as the serving girl went over and whispered something
to the blue-robed patron. The person nodded and stood up.
Cydric's hand instinctively moved to the Zanzillian sundagger he
wore on his right hip as the blue-clad figure approached and stopped
in front of his table. The figure removed its hood to reveal a
feminine face framed by a mane of flame-red hair.
"Thuna tells me you are looking for the Sage," she said in a
conversational tone.
"Do you know where I can find him?"
"Better than that; I can take you to him. May I sit?"
Cydric nodded, and the woman seated herself.
"So," Cydric said, "how much will it cost me for you to take me
to him?"
"Merely a moment of your time," the woman replied, smiling.
Cydric found himself smiling back. She couldn't be very much older
than his own twenty summers, he decided. He paused a moment before
replying to study the way the lantern-light reflected from her clear
green eyes.
"That sounds reasonable," he said.
"My name is Holleena," the woman said, extending her hand.
Cydric took it and pressed it against his cheek in the traditional
courtly manner. He told her his name.
"So tell me, Cydric Araesto, what brings you to our humble
town?" she asked.
A piece of the vision flashed through Cydric's mind. "My horse,"
he replied.
Holleena laughed. "I see. Do you wish to visit the Sage now?"
Cydric felt his stomach rumble. "Not just yet. I seem to have
forgotten about supper. Would you care to join me?"
"I would, indeed," Holleena said. Cydric raised his hand to
signal the serving girl, but Holleena stopped him.
"Let's not eat here," she said.
"Why not?"
"Belisandra is a good cook, but as anyone in Dargon can tell
you, you haven't eaten until you've had a bowl of Simon
Salamagundi's famous stew."
"Fine," Cydric said. "Let's go." He tossed a couple of coins
onto the table as they rose to leave. He offered his arm to
Holleena, and together they left Belisandra's tavern.
-Carlo Samson
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Ceda the Executioner: Chapter 3
Ceda reclined on his bed at the inn that he had previously
stayed at on his last visit to Pheeng'Am. The guards at the gate had
(for a small fee) told him that the demon had finally found the
crown and had left the city without a trace.
"Then it is over," he he thought to himself. "The demon has the
crown and has doubtlessly returned to the Overworld, or wherever it
came from; And I need not travel to the caves of Arnmere." His
tiredness took him and he fell into a deep slumber.
Tarnigen had had a long trip to the old continent of Cergaan,
where it was rumored that a mysterious demon had taken the crown.
Why it had gone there was a mystery indeed, but Tarnigen could not
pass up an opportunity of such a fortune as Grobst's Crown. A small
fishing vessel from Dhernis had dropped him off on the shore off the
Largely unexplored continent off Cargaan a few hours before, and now
he got organized before setting out to find the Demon. This was the
ultimate test for him; A man was what he wanted to be, a real man,
and this (in his eyes) was a worthy test for it.
Tarnigen laid down and looked at the night sky that hung so
still above his head. He wondered if he would ever see it again.
Yes. He would. He had, for a moment, surrendered his thoughts to
fear, but this would not ever happen again, he reassured himself. He
was determined to get the Crown, and he would, or, he said to
himself 'I am not worthy of the Throne of Caffthorn.
The cold features of Tarnigens face could just be made out by
the pale light that came from the fire he had built. His long
crooked nose was perhaps the the most noticeable thing about him. It
was, to say the least, enormously out of proportion to the rest of
his face protruding down over the pale thin lips of his mouth. He
had narrow blue eyes and long blond hair that hung down to the
center of his back. Nothing else was really noticeable about him. He
had a large body and was very strong as were most nobles of Caffthorn.
The sun had set and Tarnigen was tired; His eyes pulled
themselves closed and at once he was asleep.
The sun was almost directly over head when he awoke. Now not
only the dim outline of the land that he now stood upon was visible.
It was richly colored by many grey an yellow flowers that grew all
along the shore line and the trees at the edge of a large forest
that grew about two hundred yards inland rose higher than any he had
ever seen before. No roads crossed through the aria, only a few
animals tracks could be seen on the bank. This was a peaceful place.
Tarniger was amazed at the utter tranquility of the area. He
gathered his things and started walking towards the shelter of the
trees while he made his way west along the shore to the Ruined Tower
of Threemis Where the Demon almost certainly was.
Once in the forest, he climbed one of the taller trees to survey
The area. It was a clear day and he could just make out the outline
of a tall shape rising above the trees 20 miles up the coast.
It looked lonely and out of place, a gross sight among the
plentiful vegetation of the southern continent; like a knife
stemming out of a mans back, and the man unable to remove it, slowly
dying. He wished It wasn't there. He wished he wasn't there, but it
wouldn't help now, he had to prove himself a man and could not leave
without throwing away his family honor and pride, not to mention the
throne. However, the thought that man had not yet disturbed the
solemn beauty of the continent consoled him, and were he not to
return to Caffthorn, It would surely discourage people from coming
to this 'New world', and destroying its solitude and innocence.
But he had to return, there was no doubt about that, for if he
did not, his people would send a party to look for him. Instead, he
would tell of beasts fifty feet tall that could kill a man with a
mere blink of its eye, and of tall trees that swallowed unsuspecting
animals at night. With that thought in mind, he descended the tree
and started for the Ruined Tower.
Tarnigen reached the tower after two day. A river obscured from
sight by the trees had barred his way so he had to make a small raft
in order to cross. The wooden gate had long since been torn down and
was reduced to a pile of rotting wood in a corner of the large
courtyard that encumbered the tower. Moss grew between every crack
in the giant stone wall that stood around the tower and the even
larger wall around the courtyard was totally covered be leafy green
vines that hung down from the long unused torch holders high above
Tarnigen head.
He entered the courtyard steadily walking for the tower
entrance. As yet, he had not encountered any animals or beasts and
was, to say the least, a bit puzzled at the odd calmness of the
continent. Then he remembered what he was there for, a demon waited
for him in the tower. It was probably aware of his presence since
the moment that he had set foot in the courtyard.
He reached into his sack and pulled out his sickle, a weapon
that he had been training with since he was a child. It was three
feet long from the base of its handle to the base of the blade an
the blade was two feet long. The handle was made of a special grey
wood that could be grown only in Cafthorn and the handle was of a
dark metal of unearthly origin. Close to the base of the blade was
an inlaid gem that glowed in a magnificent purple haze.
Tarnigen then entered the tower gate. The gems glow turned to
yellow lighting the chamber to reveal a large hall with a stairway
up at the far end. slowly he moved towards it, looking in all
directions for any hint of trouble. Upon reaching the stairs, he
surveyed the room once more before starting up.
The gem then changed color to a pale white and Tarnigen stopped
and looked around. The gem continued to glow in the solemn white. He
took another step, then another; then fell. A trap door had opened
underneath his feat and had brought him to a lower level in the tower.
Tarnigen stood up. Luckily, he was not hurt from the fall. He
looked up to see the trap door twenty feet above him. He examined
himself, but to his astonishment, he was not hurt.
The hallway that he had dropped into was long an narrow. It
sloped downward at an alarming angle ending in darkness some three
hundred yards down. The gem lit the hall with its luminous white
light as Tarnigen started his decent.
The passage ended in a small room with a large hole in the
center. In the hole, a dark mist swirled around like water in a
fountain. The gem was still glowing bright white. The the mist rose
and surrounded him. the room went dark despite the glowing sickle
that he held in his hand.
After a brief moment, the mist dispersed. The gem was no longer
glowing. And to Tarnigens surprise, he was no longer in the tower.
He now stood in a dark forest that stretched in all direction as
far as the eye could see. The trees towered above his head, some of
them out of sight into the low cloud cover.
A loud cry broke the air and Tarnigen turn just in time to meet
a small party of tall thin beasts unlike any he had ever seen. The
foremost attacked him immediately and fell to his blade almost a
fast. The rest of the party turned and ran, dropping there sacks and
fleeing in terror into the dark wood. Still confused, Tarnigen left
the packs there and started in the direction that the beasts had come.
A short walk brought him to a large stone wall much like that of
the Ruined Tower's. He walked around until he reached a gate which
was guarded by four very large beasts not unlike the ones that he
had come across a little earlier. He cautiously approached the
largest of the group. It stood unmoving as he approached, it did not
even seem to breath. Once Tarnigen was in striking distance, the
beast lashed at him with one of its numerous claws and ripped his
entire right arm off.
Tarnigen screamed in disbelief, but he felt nothing. Another
blow from the monster tore his upper body off throwing both his legs
in opposite directions, the beast picked up the now helpless
Tarnigen and opened its gaping jaws and bit his head from his neck.
Tarnigen watched the jaws close about his head, then felt what
was left of his severed body being torn away from him. There was no
pain at all though he could feel that he was reduced to only a head.
He rolled into the darkness of the beasts stomach and all went dark.
Then once again the mist cleared. Once again Tarnigen stood in
the room with the swirling mist in the center. He stood slightly
dizzy for a moment and then fell to the floor. Tarnigen awakened
later to find that nothing had changed. His sack lay at his feet,
his weapon intact in his hand still glowing its solemn white. He
stood up and looked about the room. The hallway leading in was gone
and instead, an adjacent room stood in its place. The door to the
room was understandably missing so he just entered.
At the center of the room was a large throne inlaid with some of
the most beautiful Malthoogian gems that Tarnigen had ever seen. In
the throne sat a bony figure, unmoving and expressionless. And upon
its bleached head sat the Crown of Grobst D'arbo. The Demon stood
up, the burning crimson eyes flashing brightly rivaling the strong
white light that poured out of the sickle in Tarnigens hand.
The demon looked in Tarnigens direction as it removed the crown
from its head, and with its bony fingers, it placed the artifact on
the throne. Then, from nowhere, a long sword appeared in its hand.
Tarnigen raced the Demon with his sickle raised in front of him. The
demon was shattered in to many small bones and the bones into dust.
Tarnigen looked to the throne and the crown, but they sank into the
floor and disappeared from sight.
A door appeared from nowhere in the wall of the room, and
Tarnigen entered. The sickle's gem changed to a dull red color that
barely lit the room. In the corner was a large stone chest that sat
against the wall. Tarnigen walked over and set his sack down. He
opened the chest to reveal about fifty thousand ancient Grandydyian
coins, many diamonds and jewels and under some of the wealth, just
visible, lay Grobsts Crown.
The pale light from the sickle danced up and down his forehead
as he reached into the chest and grabbed the crown.
"At last," he exclaimed. " the crown is mine as is the throne of
of Caffthorn."
The skull rolled out from the inside the crown and within an
instant was whole again. Tarnigen reached for his sickle which now
glowed it bright white color, but it was too late. the demon had
already picked it up.
Tarnigen stood helpless as the demon changed and grew. The bones
grew skin and the skin grew hair. Within a moment a fifteen foot
demon loomed above him. It grinned displaying a mouth full of three
inch razor sharp fangs.
"It is but a small man that tries to steal the Crown of Grobst
D'arbo? Well behold me my true form, human, before you are banished
to limbo forever, I the Mighty King of Grandydyr decree!"
With that, the king swept Tarnigen into his hand and flung him
into the wall shattering most of his bones. Then he picked Tarnigen
of the floor and replaced the crown into the chest, and vanished
into a puff of smoke.
-Joel Slatis
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Spirit of the Wood: Chapter 4
The openness had a smell all it's own. Loric breathed the clear,
cool air above the trees with a special relish. One borne of the
open spaces. He believed the stars over his head exhaled a sweetness
unlike anything in his valley.
There was a rustling below him and he leaned out to see his
sister Silsia climbing up behind him. He smiled at her adeptness,
knowing that it represented many forbidden practice runs. Runs she
would have been punished for had the men known that a downlander
would dare the heights and walk among them.
Loric waited till she came along side of him and gave her a
signal of greeting. He could not acknowledge her presence without
penalty, but they had an unspoken code, fingertalk that they had
learned in the early days of Oldsir's blindness. A skill he never
used and they never forgot.
She held her hand out for Loric to grasp. He gripped it tightly
for a moment, knowing that they both had come here for the same
reason. He had come to tree-top level to watch the sun set and sing
a farewell to Oldsir. He sang Oldsirs song to the Spirit of the
Wood, and then the traditional songs of farewell. He could have gone
home then, but had lingered to watch for Oldsir's star to appear.
Everyone felt that since Oldsir had been given his second vision,
his star would be a special one, even the Downlanders had dared to
speak of it aloud.
There was no hope for them to spy it from the ground, and they
also knew that Silsia would not have missed trying to see it. Loric
tapped on her palm: "I thought you were journeying to Wood's End?"
"That was just a rouse and you know it near-man, dear brother. I
only wanted the villagers to think I was leaving, so they would not
look for me up here."
"I have passed all my tests, you can call me a man now."
"But your Shreaving is not until tomorrow, you can lose all
there. Would you have me call you a man, and add being here with a
man to my list? Perhaps you'd want me to dance for you when you
return? It is not unknown..."
Loric blushed in the darkness, shocked at what his sister was
suggesting. Then he heard the stifled giggle, and knew that she was
joking with him again.
"The wind blows exceptionally hard tonight." he mused,
halfturning in her direction. It would serve her right if he caught
sight of her and let out a call of warning to the other men here in
the trees. He felt her squeeze his hand tight enough to wring a cry
from him, but he held silent.
"Not as hard as a boy will blow to prove his manliness!"
"A man would have made you crabmeat by now, but list! Is this
how the Tolorions show respect for the dead? I have not seen
Oldsir's star, maybe he's not gone yet."
Silsia's hand went limp and dropped from his for a moment and
then came back. "He is gone Loric, I know it."
"How?"
She gave no anwser, but she handed something around the tree and
the pungent smell coming from the soft leather bag was all the
answer he needed. It was Oldsir's hearth-fire ashes.
Water came to Loric's eyes as he opened the bag and took out a
pinch of ash. He tossed it over his shoulder, then got another and
rubbed it onto his chest over his heart. He shook half the rest into
his own pouch and then tied the pouch onto his belt. The rest would
be for Dernhelm.
"Loric? I did something, I mean... I took some of the ash, some
of Oldsir. Will that bring dishonor to his memory? When he came to
me while you were taking your tests he said that the Spirit had
called him and he knew you would pass because you were a Tolorion. I
was so sad to see him go, that I told him I wouldn't give this to
you. He said that Spirit only knows why they don't let women into
the trees, or to have a Hearthfire, but that he knew I would do the
right thing whether that was to pass his ashes along, or to keep
them. So I went with him, he wouldn't even tell Dernhelm he was
going. He refused the escort and witnesses-male witnesses that was
his due. I was so confused when I got back I took a pinch of the ash
and threw it into my cooking fire. And it worked Loric! The magic
worked for me, I'm not a preist or druid or even a man, but I saw
him! He was young, and I saw mother there as a child, he was showing
her how to use a river vine to stretch skins... Then it was gone and
I cryed because of what I had done. I told Eadyie that I was going
to Wood's End and ran into the forest and wept till sunset. Then I
came here."
Loric had remained silent during her long communication. He
concentrated closely on the words her hands formed. Not knowing what
to do or say. If Dernhelm heard of this he would have her expelled
from the village and then he would leave himself out of shame to the
Tolorion name. Loric wasn't sure he felt the shame that tribal law
would place on him. He felt that his sister had done something
daring and had passed a test of her own.
Perhaps she was more than a woman herself now, but what did the
making of the Hearthfire for a woman mean? Surely his sister was
posessed of more magic than any other woman in the
Village-beneath-the-Trees. Eadyie herself knew only healing herbs
and roots. He knew that it was the men who carried the favor of the
Spirit and that made all magic theirs to command.
Oldsir had a second vision, he had gone to his hearthfire,
taking only his grand-daughter as honor and escort. Then she had
made her own hearthfire and had not been consumed. The portents
where there, if only he could read them a-right!
"I don't know what to say. How do you feel?"
"Terrible. Great. Awful. Glad, sad, and mad! How should I feel?"
"The decisions of a moment..." began Loric.
"Oh shush child! I know that as well as you! Oldsir did not
spend all his time instructing you."
Loric burned again and said "The night wind whispers against the
past. I will not tell it where to blow next."
"Shall I break this taboo also Loric? Or shall we keep this our
secret as the others? Till our hometree's roots reach across the
plains of Woe? I can think of only one thing to do. I must speak to
the Druid who lives in the valleys beyond our wood. This is a
greater matter than I or old 'quote the histories' Dernhelm."
Loric held her hand tight, then signed slowly giving weight and
meaning to each word. "I think that is best, for I love you and
would not have you leave the tribe because you can do something no
one else in our village can do. A woman who can spell would not have
a good chance at a husband... nor want one I beleive. But if you
leave on your own then when I see you on the paths beneath the
trees, I will not have to spit on your shadow, or utter phrases best
saved for enemies, not beloved sisters!" With that he reached around
the narrow truck that sheilded her from him and hugged her to it.
His arms did not meet, but he held her as best he could. He felt her
shake with silent sobs.
Loric looked beseechingly upwards and saw a bright reddish
streak arc across the sky and fall to earth somewhere way beyond the
Wood. "Did you see?!" He gasped.
"I saw, Loric. Oldsir did not choose to stay among his kin in
the sky. He has given me a sign. That is the direction in which I
must go!"
"Hoo-ya!! Hoo-ya!!" Came a call from some tree beyond Loric. It
was Dernhelm. He must have been watching for Oldsir's star also.
"Hoo-ya! Hoo-ya! A!" Loric called back. Soon, all the tribesmen
called out in blessing and happiness for Oldsir: "Hoo-ya! Oldsir the
Second- sighted! Hoo-ya hoo-ya hoo-ya a! The Spirit of the Wood has
called him back!"
Loric reached back to grasp his sister's hand but found only
rough bark. He wanted to attract her attention to a glow on the
horizon that he hadn't noticed before, but felt only rough bark.
Silsia Tolorion had gone.
-Rich Jervis
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The Dream
Part Four: Choice
When the child, Herrn, came to the temple for Margala's monthly
supply of Hanla's Tears, the robed man waiting in the alcove was not
the usual supplier. But, the priest accepted the large bag of coins,
and handed Herrn back one just a little smaller. Herrn checked
within, saw the little red-silver pills, thanked the priest, and
left. No one saw the triumphant smile of the priest, hidden as it
was by his deep cowl.
Herrn arrived back at Margala's House before the empty cache of
pills was noted by Margala herself. While barely 11 summers old,
just a child, Herrn was street-wise, and trusted with important
duties by the old woman who ran the House. One of these duties was
to keep the supply of Hanla's Tears, that dream drug, current. But,
Herrn liked to use the little dream-givers himself (without paying,
of course). And this past week he had overused rather badly,
exhausting the supply on the morning he was to get the new month's.
He had hastened to the temple with the money given him by Margala,
hoping that the old woman wouldn't need any of the pills before he
returned. That was one reason he hadn't questioned the fact that
Brother Mikl wasn't in the alcove - he was in too much of a hurry.
The new supply was barely in its box when Margala entered
Herrn's room. She said, "Good, little one. You have returned just in
time. Fix me up with five boxes, and have more ready. This is going
to be a busy day."
When Wend and his woman entered Margala's House, Margala was
ready for them. No whispering was needed - this was the sixth day
they had come in, and it was the same every time. She took the money
from Wend, handed him one of the little pill boxes that Herrn had
given her, and gave them room 21 to use. She watched them climb the
stairs, and wondered just what they did in that room. She knew that
they both were Peace-Keepers in one of the upper markets, and they
both had good pay, and so homes of their own. She didn't suppose
they used her House as a trysting place, though many did. Perhaps
she would find an opportunity to ask Wend later - they had known
each other for a long time, after all.
Je'en relaxed on the bed as she had five times so far. Wend said
that this should be the last time they would need the drug - and it
was true that Je'en was feeling a lot better now. Ever since the
accident, she had been repressing her memories, hiding all the
things that had been very special to her at one point because now
she had lost them. But, since her arrival in Dargon - the completion
of the "plan" that had kept her going from the accident, thru Sir
Morion's School, and to the meeting with her brother - there had not
been anything occupying her time save her job, which was about as
exciting as staring at a lake on a windless, grey day. So, her
memories leaked to the fore, causing her nightmares. But Wend was
putting a stop to that, helping her deal with the loss of her
musical abilities in a rational and healthy way. It caused her to
wonder just what he was doing guarding a bunch of high-class
shopping stalls: such knowledge as he had used to help her was not
common, nor easily won.
Wend took up his place next to the bed, and handed her the pill
box, and a glass of water. She swallowed the tiny pills with the
water, and laid back down.
Normally, she would feel herself relaxing under the influence of
the drug, and she would fade into sleep. But, not this time. Her
whole body went rigid seconds after she swallowed the pills, and
when it relaxed, she found herself in a strange place. It was all
grey, featureless save for misty outlines of indistinct shapes. At
first, she thought she was dreaming, but this had no sense of a
dream. She wasn't awake, either, but in some strange half-state, a
limbo of the senses.
She stood, and moved around in the greyness. There seemed to be
walls here, in shape much like the room she had been in. There was
no furniture, but the door was where it should have been, and the
window likewise. Of Wend there was no trace.
She went thru the door, and into a shadowy version of the
House's upper corridor. She paced throughout the whole house, but
didn't quite date to venture outside - looking out the windows, she
had found outside to be even stranger than it was in here.
She had searched the whole house and found it empty, but she
decided to call out anyway, and when she did, she received a
suprise. Her voice sounded normal. Normal, as in the pure, alto
tones it had had before her accident, not the husky, almost gravelly
sound it had settled into once the pain vanished. She tried to sing,
and succeeded. She went over to a table, and leaned on her right
wrist, and it didn't give way. Now, she was certain she was dreaming
- she was fully healed once again!
Wend was looking at the still rigid body of Je'en on the bed
worriedly. She was very pale, and very rigid, almost deathly so, but
he could see the shallow rise and fall of her breasts, and her heart
was still beating, but slowly. He sincerely hoped that he had done
the right thing. In the past month or so that he had known Je'en, he
had come to like her. The man who had put him up to this had assured
him that no harm would come to her, but seeing her now, he couldn't
be sure.
He heard the door open behind him, and turned. He said, "She is
under the influence, Terkan. All has gone as planned."
Terkan, a short, middle-aged man who dressed like a merchant,
said, "Yes, I know. Your progress has been monitored. Your duty is
now done. You may leave."
"The rest of the price, as we agreed?"
"Will be delivered to you," answered Terkan, staring avidly at
Je'en on the bed.
"I want it now. We agreed. And, your assurance again that she
will be unharmed."
"What matters it to you, fool? You will be paid for your
treachery, and it will not be the first time you have sold your
honor for a little gold. Now leave; the money will arrive tonight."
"What are you going to do with her? You must not harm her - she
has done nothing to you. She doesn't even know you. She hasn't been
in Dargon long enough to have injured you. No. Leave. Keep your
second payment, and I will return the first. Tell me how to bring
her out of this trance, and then leave. You cannot have her."
Terkan smiled cruely, and said, "No. A deal is a deal, and this
deal is done. She is ours, now, and that is that. You had best
leave, and take your payment like a good little turncoat."
Wend drew his sword and lunged, but, for all Terkan's appearance
of a middle-aged merchant, he moved faster. Wend never saw the knife
flick out of the sleeve and into his neck. He fell at Terkan's feet,
dead. Terkan then turned his eyes toward Je'en, and the sword
propped up against the wall. For a moment, he thought of taking it,
but that was too dangerous. It had to be freely given. It was
dangerous enough for him to be in this room - to have a member of
the Septent present, involved directly. But, the slightly modified
Hanla's Tears that Je'en had taken had put her in a state that only
a Full Adept of Jhel could penetrate, so there was no help for it.
Perhaps, when Jhel's ministry began to spread again, he could become
Brother Un somewhere, instead of just Brother Tri, as reward for the
risk he was taking.
So thinking, he began to put the finishing touches on his plan.
Cefn stopped shuffling the cards, cut them, and layed out the
Bent Star pattern. It appeared exactly as before. Nothing conclusive!
Stifling the impulse to curse loud and long (the last time he
had given vent to such oath-making, he had inadvertantly leveled his
previous house, and laid waste to about a square hectare of the land
about it), he was about to sweep the cards from the table yet again,
when something caught his eye. He extinguished the light globe
overhead, to better see the cards. Yes, there, the fifth ray, last
card. Trump 35, The Entwined Oak. It meant danger, and it had always
been there. But, today, it was reversed - the only change in the
pattern for the past week. And the Tree reversed meant imminent
peril, instead of vague danger on the horizon. It was happening.
Now. Je'en was in trouble.
He gathered up the cards again, and, using Trump 35 as the
significator, he layed out a different pattern, a secretly developed
one taught him by his master a long time ago. It told him exactly
what he needed to know, and leaving it lying, he left the dark room
to muster some help for his charge.
Je'en was becomming worried. This weird limbo she was trapped in
was beginning to wear on her. And, there was the fact of her
regained ability to contend with. It didn't really feel like a dream
at all, and she had been trained to recognize such.
She had returned to the upper room in hopes that Wend would be
able to reach her better there. She was staring out the window at
the swirling chaos there when she heard a sound. She turned, and saw
that she was no longer alone.
"Welcome, my dear, to your heart's desire. My name is Terkan,
and I am responsible for your being here. I also have the power to
let you stay here, if you so wish."
Je'en stared at the man who had spoken. He was dressed in
strangely symboled robes that glowed palely, and there was an air of
mystery and power about him. She said, "What do you mean? Where am
I, and why would I want to stay in such a shadowy place?"
"This is but a gateway from our world into another. In that
other, you would have all of your former abilities, as well as those
you have gained since the accident. And that is why you would want
to stay here. I can show you the way into that other world, where
you would be as you are now, fully healed and whole. There is but a
small price."
Je'en grew immediately wary. She believed the man, for there
were tales of other worlds and passages between them. This limbo was
not like any of the stories, but then the stories were old. She was
wary for a different reason. She had obviously been led into this by
a long and very twisted path, and she wanted to know why. If this
man Terkan had been acting charitably, he would have simply offered
her the choice for free, without all this subterfuge. What did he
want, and why?
"What price?" she asked. "And what of my companion, Wend?"
"Ah, Wend. Well, he was in my employ, you see. The drug I used
on you is illegal in Baranur - and very rare and expensive. Wend was
well paid to get you into the proper state, but at the last, he
decided that his salary for the job wasn't enough. You see, that
sword you carry is very valuable to certain people, but it has a
spell on it that it cannot be taken, it must change owners by free
will. My sponsors are willing to pay a large sum of money to me for
this sword, some of which Wend would have gotten. But, he got
greedy, and wanted it all. So, I had to kill him."
"But, why not just come to me and ask for the sword? I have
little sentimental value for it, and would sell it gladly for the
right price. Why all of this?"
Terkan smiled a little nervously, and said, "Well, I thought to
pay you in other kind, being a little greedy myself. When a little
research revealed a certain incident in Magnus, I decided to restore
to you your Bardic abilities, if you so choose."
It almost made sense to Je'en. But, not quite. It was too
devious. All of the secrecy, Wend's supposed duplicity, the mild
drug to lull her senses. There was something more. There had to be.
But, so what. Terkan was indeed offering her her heart's desire.
For, tho Wend had cured her of her nightmares, the desire to make
music remained as much a part of her as ever. And it seemed that
here, and (if Terkan was to be believed) in the world on the other
side of this gate, she could be a bard again. Was that worth
whatever the real reason behind Terkan's manuevering was?
Part Five: Rescue
Cefn and Mahr rode into Dargon at a gallop. They hadn't actually
ridden that far - Cefn's home was much too far from Dargon, so they
had used a little magic to help them on their way. Cefn, robed and
deeply cowled, led the way at an unsafe speed through the streets of
Dargon, arousing cries of suprise as they galloped past citizens.
The wizard reined in just outside of Margala's House. He raced
to the front door, Mahr behind him, and entered without knocking.
They dashed past the suprised Margala, and up the stairs, down the
hall, to room 21.
They entered the room without any ceremony (after Cefn unbarred
it by setting a glowing hand on the knob), and Mahr looked around as
her Master got to work immediately. Mahr saw Je'en on the bed - the
first time she had seen their charge in the flesh. She looked much
the same as in the Image Table, or Cefn's Scrying Prism, save for
the fact that she was obviously in trouble. Her whole body was
rigid, with just a faint rise and fall in her chest to denote
breathing. Her face, what could be seen around the mask, looked to
be drawn in suprise, perhaps pain - her eyes were closed tight shut,
and her mouth was a compressed line.
She turned quickly away from the body in the corner. Mahr knew
who it was. She had seen Wend and Je'en together in the city in the
Image Table. She was sorry he was dead - he had treated Je'en kindly
- but she wasn't sure why he was dead, or if he had had any part in
getting Je'en into the vulnerable position she was in now.
The other person in the room, a middle aged man dressed like a
merchant, was kneeling and sitting on his folded-under legs. His
fingers were contorted into the Triple-cross sign, and his hands
rested on his knees. He seemed to be concentrating, focusing on a
small medallion on his lap, but his eyes were closed. His breath
came as slowly and shallowly as did Je'en. Cefn had explained little
- their ride had been short and hurried - but Mahr realized that the
meditating man was one of the enemy. She even fancied she could feel
an aura of evil about him.
Cefn said, "Mahr, south-east, quickly."
Mahr fetched the compass from her belt pouch, and noted the
requested direction, then pointed. Cefn took a small blue angle and
placed it on the floor pointing where Mahr had indicated. Then, Cefn
removed six other angles form a small yellow pouch, all colored red,
and touched them, one at a time, to the blue one. As they came into
contact with the first angle, they each began to glow, and as Cefn
released them, they moved of their own accord to their proper place.
When the sixth red angle had settled into place, forming, with the
blue one, a seven-pointed star, the first angle also began to glow,
causing a webwork of lines to spring up between all of the angles,
forming a solid seven-sided figure with a seven-pointed star within.
Cefn beckoned, and Mahr joined him at the center of the figure.
He asked, "Ready?" Mahr nodded, and Cefn said a word. Blue and red
flame shot up from the outlines of the figure, climbing to the
ceiling and blotting out the room around them. It flared for several
seconds, and then it died, revealing a vastly different scene.
It was a shadowly, limbo place, vaguely resembling the room they
had come from. The formerly meditating man, now dressed as a priest
of Jhel, was speaking. "We don't really have forever, Je'en. The
drug you were given will wear off in time, and I don't have any more
with me. You must decide. Which will it be - keep the sword or
become a Bard again?"
Cefn said, softly, "Mahr, stay within the septacle. This could
get messy." Then, louder, "Je'en, don't listen to that man. He has
lied to you. Whatever you do, do not give him your sword."
Both parties turned at the sound of the mage's voice. Mahr saw
that Je'en wasn't wearing her mask here, and there was no scar on
her suprised face. The priest scowled, and said "Just who do you
think you are? This woman can make up her own mind - leave her alone."
Cefn ignored the man, and took a few steps towards Je'en (and
out of the septacle). "Je'en, this man is a priest of Jhel. Have you
ever heard of that particular cult? Well, its been outlawed for a
very long time. The last remaining members of this cult are right
here in Dargon, and this man is one of them. The sword you bear,
that you got from the vaults of the College in Magnus, just happens
to be the key to a prophecy of total world victory for the followers
of Jhel, and the prophecy is not just words - if the high priests of
Jhel get hold of that sword, and release what is within it, the
whole world will fall to them."
"Why should I believe you, instead of this man?" asked Je'en.
She was even more confused now. If the tall, cowled man was right,
the priest's interest was explained, but she couldn't be sure. And,
if she could really enter another world, and have her heart's desire
in that world, did she care what happened in the one she had left?
"Je'en, please. You must listen to me. Just now, when he said
that the drug would wear off - it won't. You'll be trapped in this
limbo forever. Even after your body dies, your spirit will wander
here endlessly. You have regained your bardic skills and whole body,
but to what use? The beings who inhabit this realm need no music for
entertainment - they have other amusements. Please, do not accept.
He will give you nothing in return, and destroy the world in the
bargain. Deny his offer, come to me, and we will depart."
There was something about the cowled man that prompted Je'en to
trust him. Perhaps, it was because he wanted nothing from her except
to give up what the other man had supposedly given her. She turned
from him to the priest, and saw the scowl on his face. It was
actually more than a scowl, it was pure rage and hatred concealed
badly. Je'en made her decision - she began to walk over to the
taller man.
The priest shouted "No!" and flung an arm across Je'en's path.
>From his fingers a siclky purple-green line of fire flashed across
the room, between Je'en and the cowled man. The priest swung his arm
behind him, and the line of fire became a translucent wall dividing
the whole room in half, with Je'en on one side, and the other three
on the other.
Je'en tried to push thru the green-purple wall, but touching it
caused so much pain that she cried out and fell back. So, she could
only watch what was going on on the other side.
Mahr was watching, too. She had never seen her master in an all
out Duel of magic. Such a thing was very rare, as were magicians of
most any caliber. She was not suprised that the priest could hold
his own against Cefn - it had rapidly become obvious that he was
high up in the priestly order of Jhel, perhaps even in the Septent,
and it was well known (to those who knew at all) that the highest of
Jhel's followers were renowned magic users.
The contest was incomprehensible to non-participants. All that
was visible of the striving was stray emissions - attacks that did
not make their mark, the efluvia of shattered thrusts, and leakages
of gathered force for an attack. Mahr saw her master seemingly just
standing, cowl thrown back, hands slightly forward of his body,
facing the priest, who was in a similar position. Light flashed to
the sides of them, and Mahr started as several stray attacks that
shattered against the protection of the septacle. She noticed that
the wall created by the priest was similar protection for Je'en.
Eventually, the battle began to go against the priest. There
were few stray emissions around the priest anymore, indicating more
on-the- mark attacks. He began to sweat, and his hands began to move
higher and higher as he worked harder to attack and defend himself.
He began to glance furtively around for a way out. His eyes lit on
Mahr and her protection, and he smiled.
His hands began to point different directions, and he began to
direct energy at the ground around the septacle, as well as at Cefn.
The ground below the septacle began to thin, but no one noticed, so
intent were they on the battle. Slowly, Terkan's magic ate away at
the fabric of the limbo space, until finally it gave way. Mahr
screamed as she fell thru into somewhere else.
Cefn turned in time to see his apprentice vanish, along with the
septacle, intact. With a little cry, he darted over to the hole in
the floor to try to help her. Seeing his chance, Terkan prepared a
final blow, aimed at Cefn's defenceless back.
Je'en saw Terkan smiling at the undefended mage, and knew that
the mage was in trouble. She braced herself and threw herself at the
purple-green wall, and at Terkan. Pain lanced thru her, searing
every nerve, causing her to scream in agony - but she kept going.
She moved through treacle, taking forever - a forever of agony - to
reach the man, but reach him she did, knocking him down, causing him
to lose his concentration, and his spell backfired. Je'en lay
panting and crying from the pain for several minutes before she felt
the other man gently move her from on top of Terkan, who seemed to
be unconscious.
Cefn examined the priest, and deemed him safe for the moment. He
returned his attention to Je'en, and said, "Are you alright?"
Je'en sat up groggily, and looked at her rescuer. She first
noted his eyes - pure blue all thru. He was handsome, with thin,
aristocratic features, but his eyes seemed something out of legends.
She finally said, "Yes, I'm alright. Your friend..."
"Mahr was my apprentice. She is beyond hope. Perhaps my masters
will look kindly on her, save her, but she will not return to this
world. I should have been prepared for treachery. I..."
"Um, thank you for saving me," said Je'en. "Who are you, anyway,
and why?"
Cefn said, "My appologies, Je'en. My name is Cefn an'Derin. My
occupation should be obvious. What I said about Jhel was true - your
sword is the key to the priests of Jhel's armageddon prophecy, and
this man, probably one of the leaders of the cult, was trying to
wrest it from you. We, Mahr and I, have been involved with the
downfall of Jhel, and have been watching you carefully, which is why
he tried to trick you into giving him the sword. Only his brief
possessive thought alerted my surveilance to the fact that you were
in trouble. Now, we - I - have the key we need to destroy the rest
of the Septent of Jhel in Dargon, and destroy her worship for good."
Cefn reached, perhaps a little wearily, into his belt-pouch and
withdrew a small hemisphere of dark glass. Je'en watched as he
placed the glass dome on Terkan's temple, and said a word. The dome
began to glow, and the unconscious Terkan began to grimace in pain.
It took about five minutes for the dome to do its work, and by the
end, Terkan was screaming soundlessly. When the hemisphere ceased
glowing, Cefn removed it from Terkan's head. It left a charred spot
where it had rested, and it was no longer dark, but rather a
swirling milky-white.
Cefn said, "Within this theryum is all of the priests memories
and thoughts. With this, I can masquerade as him, gain admittance to
a high meeting of the Brothers, and destroy them.
"Come, Je'en. Let us return to Dargon. I think the priest will
be happy to suffer the imprisonment he meant for you."
"Wait, Master Cefn. Terkan, the priest, he said that he could
send me to another world, where I would be able to sing again. Could
you do that as he said? If so, I would rather not return to Dargon."
"I'm sorry, Je'en, but that was another lie. There is no way for
our magics to penetrate the dimensional boundaries. This is another
plane of existence, and in it, you bear your spirit-body, which is
as healthy and whole as you wish it to be. But, human life is
foreign to this plane, and its natural inhabitants enjoy torturing
anyone or thing foreign."
Cefn had begun setting up another septacle, orienting the major
angle on a sense he had of the proper direction. Je'en watched the
little red angles dart around of their own accord with fascination.
When it was done, Cefn motioned her into the center of the figure.
She said, before Cefn could begin to activate the septacle, "So,
what now? You have the means to destroy this cult of Jhel, but you
have also lost your apprentice. What will you do when your mission
is complete?"
Cefn looked at Je'en, and she saw sadness in his face. He said,
"Mahr and I worked long and hard to destroy Jhel. I shall miss her
greatly, yet some kind of loss is fitting, in a way. As to what
next, I have no idea. My time is finally once again my own. Perhaps
I'll do some more research, maybe find another apprentice, and pass
along my knowledge. I just don't know."
"Why don't we team up," said Je'en. "I have been getting so
bored in that Peace-keeper job I've got, that it nearly drove me
mad. But, in a land that is so sparsely populated, and largely
unknown, there must be some more exciting work for a swordswoman,
and it will be even more exciting with a real magician along to
help. Sound good?"
Cefn was silent for a long time. In truth, the idea seemed a
good one - but Je'en didn't know very much about him, including the
part he had played in her present circumstances. Still, the offer of
adventure sure sounded better than a lot of reclusive research. And,
he had grown to like Je'en while watching and protecting her. So, he
finally said, "Sure. Why not? Let's be a team!" And he activated the
magic that returned them to the real world and Dargon.
-John L. White
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